Feb 11, 2012

Packaged food in Uzbekistan continued to develop based on its strong historical background in the country. Most packaged food products are seen as essential products that are of primary importance for daily consumption. Such demand, in addition to the biggest population in the region, generated high sales of packaged food products. All major categories of packaged food are present in Uzbekistan and, over the review period, new ones were introduced successfully. The fact that Uzbek consumers remained open to new and novel product types ensured that newer categories had strong potential to develop.

Affordable prices and increasing product variety drives demand

Based on the existing favourable conditions in the country, production became one of the most profitable activities. The production of packaged food products was no exception. Compared to imports, domestic producers enjoyed savings in terms of labour costs, logistics and, perhaps most importantly, customs duties, which resulted in much lower unit prices for domestic products. Furthermore, in line with the development of domestic production, the range of products available also became wider, which, together with affordable prices, contributed to higher consumer demand.

Across many packaged food categories, the average unit price increased in 2011. In many cases, this was driven by imports, as a result of currency fluctuations. However, with further development of domestic production and improvement of quality of products in different sectors of packaged food industry, imports saw a decline in retail volume sales, as they saw an ongoing loss of share to domestic products. As a result, domestic products accounted for a retail volume sales share approximately twice that of imports in 2011.

Packaged food benefits from the development of retailing

Packaged food products continued to be sold mainly through established grocery retailing channels. Each channel retained its own unique characteristics, in terms of location convenience, product variety, pricing, and consumer loyalty. From this perspective, opportunities created as a result of the ongoing development of retail proved beneficial to packaged food. The development of chained retailing resulted in increased consumer loyalty to retail outlets and, hence, to official sales. Meanwhile, payment types recently introduced by retail, including cashless payments, resulted in increased transaction volume.

Packaged food benefits from the development of retailing

Packaged food products continued to be sold mainly through established grocery retailing channels. Each channel retained its own unique characteristics, in terms of location convenience, product variety, pricing, and consumer loyalty. From this perspective, opportunities created as a result of the ongoing development of retail proved beneficial to packaged food. The development of chained retailing resulted in increased consumer loyalty to retail outlets and, hence, to official sales. Meanwhile, payment types recently introduced by retail, including cashless payments, resulted in increased transaction volume.